Wearable devices used for enabling a user to communicate a request for help (e.g., to an emergency call center, family member, etc.) in the event of an emergency, sometimes referred to as mobile personal emergency response system (MPERS) devices, tend to be small in size with a limited battery capacity. Elderly users often use the MPERS devices with position location functionality (e.g., Global Positioning System or GPS) to assist others in determining their location, particularly when the user is rendered unconscious or is mentally incapacitated from, say, a fall event or deteriorating medical condition, respectively. However, obtaining a location fix via a GPS operation is very power consuming, thus requiring the user to re-charge the battery frequently. Further, for emergencies at home, often times a GPS signal is not available, so when an alarm is communicated to, for instance, a PERS service center, personnel at the service center may be unable to accurately locate the MPERS device (e.g., to confirm the location for the emergency event is a home location for the user).
In an on-line article entitled, “MPERS Wearables: Benefits of Hybrid Location for the Emergencies Device,” posted by Ashley Osgood on Jun. 10, 2014, the article describes traditional MPERS devices worn as pendants or bracelets, which transmit an alert from the wearer to a base unit nearby (usually within the home). The base unit, in turn, dispatches an alert to a central location. The article goes on to describe how advances to MPERS devices includes the ability to automatically detect a fall based on motion patterns, with the industry transitioning from requiring the wearer to be tied to one place in order to assure constant transmission of location data from the stationary location within their home to now being much more mobile, fast, and accurate. To achieve the features desired in the article, the article informs of hybrid location functionality for such devices, and which combine positioning with GPS, cell tower, IP, and device sensor data. However, with the increased functionality comes the need for improvements in power conservation and/or memory usage.